May 24, 2016
- Read through the explanations.
- A | Health and safety
Here are some health and safety issues for people at work.
All these things contribute to a bad working environment. The government sends officials called health and safety inspectors to make sure that factories and offices are safe places to work. They check what companies are doing about things like:
B | Bullying and harassment
If someone such as a manager bullies an employee, they use their position of power to hurt or threaten them, for example verbally. Someone who does this is a bully.
Sexual harassment is when an employee behaves sexually towards another in a way that they find unwelcome and unacceptable. The related verb is harass.
C | Discrimination
If people are treated differently from others in an unfair way, they are discriminated against.
If a woman is unfairly treated just because she is a woman, she is a victim of sex discrimination. In many organizations, women complain about the glass ceiling that allows them to get to a particular level but no further.
If someone is treated unfairly because of their race, they are a victim of racial discrimination or racism. Offensive remarks about someone’s race are racist and the person making them is a racist.
In the US, affirmative action is when help is given in education and employment to groups who were previously discriminated against. In Britain, affirmative action is known as equal opportunities. - Some companies have a dignity at work policy covering all the issues described in B and C.
- A | Health and safety
- Match the employees’ complaints to the health and safety issues (a–f) in A opposite.
- My doctor says there’s something wrong with my lungs, but I’ve never smoked. — . . .
- hazardous substances
- dangerous machinery
- temperature
- passive smoking
- repetitive strain injury or RSI
- fire hazards
- I do a lot of data entry, and I’ve started getting really bad pains in my wrists. — . . .
- hazardous substances
- dangerous machinery
- temperature
- repetitive strain injury or RSI
- fire hazards
- passive smoking
- It’s either too cold and we freeze, or too hot and we all fall asleep. — . . .
- dangerous machinery
- hazardous substances
- passive smoking
- temperature
- repetitive strain injury or RSI
- fire hazards
- There’s all this waste paper but there are no fire extinguishers in the building. — . . .
- temperature
- repetitive strain injury or RSI
- fire hazards
- dangerous machinery
- hazardous substances
- passive smoking
- The containers are leaking — one day someone is going to get acid burns. — . . .
- repetitive strain injury or RSI
- passive smoking
- fire hazards
- hazardous substances
- temperature
- dangerous machinery
- There are safety guards on the machines; you could easily get your hand caught. — . . .
- temperature
- fire hazards
- passive smoking
- repetitive strain injury or RSI
- hazardous substances
- dangerous machinery
- My doctor says there’s something wrong with my lungs, but I’ve never smoked. — . . .
- Complete these headlines and articles with the correct form of words from B and C opposite.
- “Office manager accused of —
A court heard today how an office worker was almost driven to suicide by a bullying office manager. James Blenkinsop, 27, told how boss Nigel Kemp victimized him by shouting at him, criticizing his work in front of others, tearing up his work and telling him to do it again…” - “National restaurant chain faces claims —
Four waitresses claim they were repeatedly by male bosses in a branch of a well-known national restaurant chain. All four waitresses said they were subjected to sexist remarks at the restaurant…” - “Japanese women break through —
Naomi Tanaka, 23, last year started working on the Tokyo Stock Exchange as a trader. She complained about and said she did not want to be a ‘counter lady’ answering phones and serving tea at a Japanese bank. Instead she got a job as a trader at Paribas, a French firm…” - “Shop manageress in case —
A clothing shop’s half-Burmese manageress, 24-year-old Marion Brown, claims her boss continually made remarks, and sacked her from her £110-a-week job when she objected. She claims that the company that owns the shop has racially against her…” - “Affirmative action abolished at Texas Law School —
A court made affirmative action at the University of Texas law school illegal last year, and supporters of say it has been ‘a disaster’. Last year the law school admitted a class that was 5.9 per cent black and 6.3 per cent Hispanic. This year the black percentage stands at 0.7 and the Hispanic at 2.3…”
- “Office manager accused of —
- Over to you
- What are the main health and safety issues in your job, or a job that you would like to do?
- What are the main health and safety issues in your job, or a job that you would like to do?
© 2020 DrillPal.com